Natural Plant-Based Skin Care & Its Benefits

Men are increasingly invested in the ingredients they put in (and on) their bodies—and this applies to skincare products just as much as supplements.

There’s a good reason for this increased diligence: Chemicals in personal-care products may cause allergic reactions, hair loss, asthma, and possibly even cancer, according to the Harvard School of Public Health.

The solution? Natural, non-synthetic products that contain fewer chemicals for fewer allergic reactions and less skin irritation, says Hannah Kopelman, a clinical dermatology fellow at Boston University.

Don’t worry, this doesn’t mean weaker products—quite the opposite. Natural ingredients pack a powerful punch, and they can hydrate your skin, stop breakouts in their tracks, tame redness, and more…

Plant-based ingredients make amazing moisturizers.

Ingredients like avocado oil, which is rich in omega-3 fatty acids, help restore moisture to dry, cracked skin, and even help decrease flakiness in your scalp, Kopelman says.

Anti-inflammatory ingredients ease redness, psoriasis, and eczema.

Inflammation is behind a number of unpleasant skin conditions, including rosacea, psoriasis, and eczema. “Sage oil, lavender, and eucalyptus are known to help treat dry and flaky skin, even from eczema and psoriasis, because they’re naturally anti-inflammatory,” Kopelman says. Lavender oil, in particular, was shown to have anti-inflammatory effects in a Brazilian study.

Plant-based products help control acne.

In addition to being just plain soothing to the senses, certain plants are known to combat bacteria. Lavender, for example, reduces breakouts, according to the journal Industrial Crops and Products, likely because of its antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory properties. The essential oil has also been shown to promote wound healing and boost collagen, according to the journal BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine.

Vitamin C keeps skin looking youthful.

Vitamin C, which can be found in fruits like kiwi, is crucial to not only your immune system, but your skin’s appearance, too. “Vitamin C is known to rejuvenate skin and improve collagen, which tightens up the skin,” Kopelman says. And because the vitamin is an antioxidant, it neutralizes harmful free radicals to offset skin damage, especially the kind from sun exposure, Kopelman says. Translation: Fewer sunspots.

People have been using plants as skincare since the beginning of time.

Ancient people didn’t have lab-manufactured chemicals to apply to their skin, so they used what nature could offer them to create topical remedies—and by all account, they worked.

As early as the 9th century, people bathed in oregano and pine needles to soothe acne, according to the American Botanical Council, and in medieval Tibet, people used white lily to heal wounds.

Of course, today’s plant-based products, like those in the ASYSTEM Performance Skincare line, merge the best of both worlds: the time-tested ingredients people have used throughout history and the modern delivery systems that help you—and your skin—make the most of them.